Senator Who Told Victim’s Mother He Supported Background Checks Voted Against Them

Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona wrote a beautiful letter to Caren Teves, whose son Alex died during the mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, CO. Alex was a true hero, who lost his life while shielding his girlfriend from the bullets.

[Alex’s mother] wrote a letter to Sen. Flake, in which she “invited him to our home to sit in our son’s chair, his empty chair” and “feel the emptiness and have dinner with us and discuss” guns. In response, Flake sent Teves a hand-written letter claiming that he supported one of the most important steps Congress could take to improve gun safety — expanding background checks.

Just days after raising Teves’ hopes that the Senate would act to prevent future mothers from experiencing the same pain inflicted upon her family, Flake voted against background checks. Flake claimed to oppose the bill because it “would expand background checks far beyond commercial sales to include almost all private transfers — including between friends and neighbors,” but this claim is false. As Mark Kelly, husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) lamented after seeing Flake’s explanation, “it appears he hasn’t read the bill.”